It's Party Time!

We are a sports loving family. When my husband and I got married, our wedding favors were glass ornaments with our favorite sports team logos etched onto them (painstakingly etched, by yours truly). If you didn’t like the San Antonio Spurs, the Texas Longhorns or the Denver Broncos, then you probably weren’t all that excited to open your gift as you left our reception!

We wanted to make sure we fostered that love of sports in our children, so as soon as my son possibly could, we had him dressed in miniature jerseys, practicing dunks on his mini basketball hoop. My husband would take him into the backyard to play golf with a little plastic set of clubs, set him up with a tiny t-ball tee, or toss a miniature football to him.

Well, we got what we wanted. In fact, it went a little bit TOO far, and I think we’ve created a five (almost six) year old sports monster. The child WON’T STOP throwing, hitting, tossing, rolling and kicking balls. Heck, he doesn’t even need a ball. If I’ve taken all of the footballs, baseballs, and bouncy balls away (for being thrown in the house), the child will just pretend he’s pitching an invisible ball to an invisible hitter or throwing an invisible football to an invisible receiver. He even does his own commentating! (If someone from ESPN is reading, he's pretty darn good - give him a call!).

Well, for his birthday party this year, he wanted a sports themed party. Shocking! So, we’ve booked the place (the kids will be playing indoor wiffle ball, basketball and flag football), figured out what he wants on his cake (he doesn't care, as long as there is lots of icing), and made the list of friends and family to invite. All that was left was for me to figure out invitations and party favors. I played with today's HUGE American Crafts Junior Collection steal, did a little work in Photoshop Elements, and here’s what I came up with!

I made some faux tickets in Photoshop Elements for the invitations, mounted each one on the gorgeous AC cardstock, and finished it off with a sticker from the collection.
I even made some favor bags with some cheap lunchbags and my scraps!
Then I decided no scraps could go to waste, so I decided pre-make a few simple Thank You cards!

Here's a tip for moms of kids who complain about writing thank you cards. I make my son write out a template:

Dear ____________, Thank you for the ___________.
I love __(it/them)_______.
Thanks for coming to my party!
Love, _________.

I then scan and copy this template, and he writes in the specifics. I know they sell templates such as these in many stores, but this seems a little more personal than the store-bought thank yous. The thank you card template in general is arguably impersonal (in fact, *I* used to argue that pre-kids), but it has been a lifesaver at our house. Now, when it's time to write a thank you note, there are less threats (mine) and accusations of torture (his)!

For any moms of sports lovers (boy or girl!), you will adore all of the colorful, fun papers, stickers, rub-ons and stamps to use in your crafting and scrapping! The kit even includes other themes that kids love, like cars, robots, aliens, and dinosaurs!

We’d love to see everything YOU create with your American Crafts Junior kit! Don’t forget to post them to our Facebook page!

Happy Crafting!